Ford Flex is the worst car I have owned - GT Canada Car Stories 

how much were you paying for gas?

Thanks for stopping by. I'm happy to hear your experience has been different than mine.

Which engine did you get?

I have one my self and the flex is absolutely beautiful in style and strength by means if you live in an area with fridges temperatures like -57° aka Alaska. It still turns on like a beast

until the water pump goes out (if you have the 3.5) and if you catch it in time before it destroys your engine by dumping coolant into the engine oil. And if you catch it in time, you have to practically pull the engine to replace it. Ours went out on vacation. 1500 to replace a water pump.

What I'm thinking is, I need a lot more people hating over loving a Ford flex before is say no, that said I love the Mazda 5 but non cheap right now, only a Ford flex 09

Which engine do you have in your Flex?

I agree. The non eco boost (non turbo) engines are the best. The only flaw is with the water pump being internal. But if you do a pre maintenance and change it before it goes out (say at around 150K give or take) this beast will run forever. Just make sure you do an upgraded pump.

I totally agree with you dehende07

No but how can you say that after watching this video! 😂 This video is enough proof and evidence that they truly suck ass!

I have a 2009 flex with 250000 miles and it just needs regular maintenance and runs like a champ. Maybe your individual flex has issues also it could be living conditions. I live in California so nice and sunny which means way less rust underneath than someone who lives near snow and ice which can also cause cars to breakdown faster

Thanks for stopping by, appreciate the comments If you check my other videos you'll see I dumped a lot of Maintenance into the car over the last year. If you noticed in this video I also mentioned my coworkers experience with the flex when it was brand new (Spoiler: it wasn't pretty). But, in general, I have always bought vehicles with 'high miles' and in poor repair and have never experienced the same degree of problems I have with this car. I expect any car I buy to be able to handle a drive down a gravel road in the winter, which is what the picture is from. My opinion is still that this is the worst car ever. I'm always on the lookout for one that's worse than this. If you have any suggestions let me know. I'll try to find one to try for myself and do a review on it

@@GearsAndTech if you always buy “high mileage vehicles in poor repair” it stands to reason that you’re eventually gonna be in over your head. instead of putting hundreds of dollars into a poorly maintained vehicle why not put that cash toward a better example?

Thanks for the comment The short answer is I buy what I can afford, and that usually means the car has higher miles. If I can find one that's inexpensive, but in good condition then that's great. But it's rarely the case I'm having great success with my wife's car. But I usually spend more for her so she can have nice things. I don't mind driving breaking junk if it means she can have something nicer. You can see here car here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v07sgP1vh9Y.html Also, I do have a few sweet rides that will be getting unveiled soon on this channel Truth is, my avalanche which was half as much as this flex is still going strong. It was the cheapest one in Canada at the time and has only needed regular oil chain he's so far. This flex was an anomoly that I paid way more than I normally would pay, but was still junk. I really was not impressed then, and am still not impressed now.

Exactly!!🤣

But if you buy 20 years old Toyota you want have these problems I think Ford have poor made cars in most cases Or maybe am like him don’t like Ford 😂

what you're seeing is a number of FB ford groups that shared this video around. They all came on here, thumbs downed the video, and put a comment about how wrong I am about the car. Coming up with your opinion based on that info would be the same as going to a Trump Rally and asking Joe Biden should be the president. Your results are skewed. Im not wrong. In my experience, this is the worst car ever BUT I am also sad they are stopping making it. Because I do love the car. Just like in the video. Its the hot chick you know you should ignore and move on, but you just cant.....

I agree. He's full of crap.

Your correct.He’s not the brightest bulb.😂

Yiure probably right

Thanks for stopping by I actually do love the Ford flex, and wish it was better than it was. But, it really was the worst car i have ever owned

So long as you drain and fill the PTU fluid for the AWD system you will be good to go

Ahh you mean like buying a focus with the power shit transmission that nearly killed me a few times and eneded up parting it out at 97k miles fuck ford

Thank you for your input

Thank you!

I was thinking the same thing. I worked at a Ford dealership for a year and the flexs never had an issue.

Oof those new broncos are UGLY.

Watch the crash texts 👀

I know what you mean. I totally broke that rule. I think it's ok for a nissan guy to like my avalanche though

I was reading online and people were saying that without decent gas, the car would have a hard time in hot weather + up hills + cargo = low power. As soon as they put 91 grade fuel, it didn’t have an issue. Also apparently before you go around towing anything it’s wise to make sure you use the boost option because otherwise there is a part that can get stuck. There’s another guy on yt that covered some of these issues. You never know with people lol

Hey thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the comment. I loved my flex too for what it represented. Its possible I had a lemon..... But it really was painful owning it the entire time. As much as I really wanted to love it longer.

I figured there has to be at least one out there that worked without problems! Sad thing is, I have only had mine sold for 1 month and I'm already considering getting another.

Same here. Bought my 2018 brand new and it’s still a trooper

Mine has been running good and It's still going strong no problems whatsoever

@@GearsAndTech My opinion is the first-gen Flex had many issues. My father owned a 2014 and It's gone through our family without many issues. The Flex got better with time but I've heard a lot of issues with the first Gen.

I agree, I hope the newer ones are better. I have debated getting one to see. But for now I still need an SUV that can tow. So it'll have to wait a few more years

Right on!

Anyone I ride in my car makes the comment is "Wow, this is a very spacious vehicle!" My Millennial kids love it. I am sold on the Ford Flex and like you, What is wrong with you, #Ford?

I was a detailer too and have seen thousands of cars..... I disagree

Pontiac best cars iv had

It's positive to hear others have had good experiences with these cars. Honestly, I am pretty sure I'll end up in a newer one at some point. Even though my last one is gone, I still do love them. Just like you go crawling back to yiru girlfriend that beats you. Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Ford is known for fragile frond ends. They do handle well when everything is working properly. Wheel bearing can get pressed in off just enough to wear excessively fast FYI; that is for any vehicle with pressed bearings.

@@GearsAndTech worst car ever and....you’re gonna buy another one?

@@MacLaw3084 I'm not buying another one right now. But, at some point when I can afford a 2014 with ecoboost, I'll probbaly buy one.

I think you're misinformed. I bought this car in need of repair and repaired everything it needed then. And also fixed other things as they broke Maybe I got a neglected car, I don't know. But it's still the worst car I have ever owned

It's possible. Carfax showed no reported accidents. But that doesn't mean a whole lot

I was sad when I heard they weren't gonna make any more too. I still like them Just are the worst car I have ever owned

I wish mine was an ecoboost.

I prefer the Odyssey Flex is for guys that want a minivan that doesn't look like a minivan

I bet that's fast, but I think your forgetting about a few chevies when you make that statement Unless youre saying your modified car is faster than any stock chevies. Someone is always faster my friend. With only 500hp you're not at the top of the food chain I bet your quick in your town. But expand your circle and you'll see.

Hopefully it's cheap. That's a lot of miles for an ecoboost

The weakness of that engine is the water pump. It's internally driven by the timing chain. If it fails it will leak coolant into the oil, if this doesn't get caught right away it will take out the engine. I've had mine for ten years, it's a 2011 naturally aspirated AWD that had 48k miles when we bought it. I've only used full synthetic oil and mobil1 or napa platinum oil filters every 3-5k miles. It has 223k miles right now and the engine runs like the day we test drove it. I've heard that the key to the water pump issue is being religious about oil changes and using quality oil. That can be said about preventing so many issues in modern cars regardless of manufacturer, 10k oil change intervals are insanity. Manufacturers recommend it in order to get you through the warranty period, not because it's what's best, but once that warranty expires is when the effects of doing 10k oil changes start to manifest. If it already has a lot of miles it can mean the previous owners were diligent with maintenance or they got lucky with questionable maintenance and your buying it on its last leg.

thats great to hear!

What year do you have?

If there was a market Ford wouldn't have stopped making them

@@GearsAndTech Unless it was competing with a more profitable line, which it was. As a "car", the Flex didn't have as big a markup as the SUV's, and Ford viewed every Flex as a lost SUV sale.

Thanks for stopping by I made videos of all the work I did to the front end. They are getting thousands of views. When you read the comments you find out that many people are suffering from the same experience I had.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad to hear many users success experiences with this car. I really do love them for what they are. With how many views my repair videos get for the flex it seems like a lot of people have had similar experiences to me. Come by again any time!

100% agree. In fact, I would take that combo in a heartbeat. BUT, you just need to know that it may take a lot of maintenance to keep it on the road and sleeping from light to light, instead of sleeping in your driveway waiting for new parts to arrive

@@GearsAndTech hahaha absolutely. Thank you for the info, I'm not all too experienced in vehicle mods as it stand. Id hate to have it parked all the time. Defeats the point.

Im in wi too. I just purchased a 2018 flex and it is the awd model. Was nervous as I don't usually buy vehicles in summer. Prefer to buy in snow to see how they handle honestly but time and car breaking down did not allow for that. Where do you buy said tires from?

Thanks for stopping by. I totally understand that this is my experience alone I have a video that documents how to replace all the parts that I replaced while owning it. Those videos are getting a log of views. If I was alone I would think nobody would be looking up the videos. So my opinion is also based on that And the part about my work buddy that had 3 of them when they were brand new and eventually swapped for a different car because even Ford couldn't fix the problems. So, I don't think my opinion is based totally on ignorance.

@@GearsAndTech so you're basing your entire opinion about a car through faulty cheap ass parts that you bought and views from your videos from cheap ass people who can't do basic car maintenance and want to play RU-vid mechanics. There is a right way and a wrong way of doing things. If you're constantly doing backyard mechanics with cheap ass unreliable parts then you're obviously doing it the wrong way. Owning a flex isn't cheap or for the cheap asses. And there's plenty of backyard RU-vid mechanics out here in the world right now and they, including you, seem to always have the worst experiences with cars. I'll tell you right now, nothing on the flex is cheap to replace. Maybe a light bulb is probably the cheapest fix you'll ever get on this car. It isn't a very demanding car price wise and for it's size and weight it gets great gas mileage. You're paying for the quality of the part when you need to replace something on a flex. Not just the part itself. If I want something important in the car to last then I'm not gonna go running to autozone with Chinese outsourced parts for an American made vehicle. If you keep up with general maintenance on ANY car then you're more likely to enjoy it more and for longer. Bolting on cheap shit and slapping it on there and calling it fixed is not the right way to do things. I can can confidently say that I don't care if you had 100 friends come help you with your Chinese parts. They're not built to last. Which is why any parts department stores are so successful in their business. I can go buy a Chinese cat converter for my flex for 600 bucks right now or I can spend the 1k and it last for another 200k miles or more. It going out was my fault for not getting the plugs, wires and coils changed out sooner than I would have liked and it ended up having repeated misfires that just dumped fuel into the converter. But life happens and ultimately I'm paying the price for it as a result. I've literally only ever needed to get the oil changed, alignment, rear shocks replaced since I tow with it a lot, transmission fluid change and brakes and rotors changed. That's it. That is all that has ever been done with my flex for its entire life. Everything is bone stock oem and replaced with oem every time. Like I said before, you can hate on the flex all day long. It doesn't make your opinions on it anymore valid just because cheap asses want to save some money on labor costs. For all you know, these people watching your videos have bought the FoMoCo oem part and just don't want to pay labor of 100+ an hour. It doesn't mean that the people watching the video hate the car. Especially with today's economic climate since the outbreak of the virus. Not everyone can afford to pay labor costs. If they keep buying those cheap ass Chinese parts, it's gonna cost them more in the long run and they'll think it's the car that's the problem. Kinda like what happened to you. 💁‍♂️

I appreciate the conversation and the feedback I have approached Maintenance of all my vehicles the same way. I have never had the cheap Chinese parts fail within 1 month of replacing them. This is a first for me. My opinion has not changed.

F150's have ecoboost. This had the NA turd. Possibly my expectations where unrealistic, but I think having a suspension that doesn't eat itself would be normal to expect

@@GearsAndTech I have the NA 3.5 in my Flex and I have no issues with it. It's far from a turd.

Replace the timing belt when you replace the water pump. It's right there and minimal additional cost. You'll thank me for this advice.

I will agree, it did well in the snow. I was disappointed that it has a fwd bias when it slips. So it's hard to kick the back end out. That makes you end up under steering on ice, which is a problem.

Well, Mr Kim.... We have most the watered down garbage including the European models that Europeans are too smart to buy And all the dumbestic brands Plus a few Japanese ones. So, all in all, at least 8!

You made a few assumptions here about how much due diligence I put into this before I Bought it. I may play an idiot on youtube sometimes, but I assure you the car was looked over prior to purchase. You are right about 1 thing, and that is NEVER buy a first year ford. See, ford lovers know this already because they learned the hard way. Coming from great experiences with first year cars from other brands, this concept is new to me. I will be mindful of this if I ever look at buying a ford again.

Thank you for jumping on here and sharing your first hand experience.

If only the author had followed your common sense advice.

Thank you for your kind words

Mmmm, I'm sorry, but that's not the case here However, I am happy to hear how it goes after you buy one and use it for a bit.

do you know how he fixed the transmission issue? In case I buy one and need to do the same haha!

Maybe watch the video. I explained this already. Its one of the lowest km cars I have ever owned, but its the most broken and junk one too Your excuse doesn't make sense

Would you think an ecoboost is worth the engine swap for the 3.5?? (Seriously asking)

@@justinbond558 swapping it into what?

I would say sell the one you have, buy one with an ecoboost.

@@justinbond558 yeah if youre looking at swapping a na flex with the ecoboost... just try to find an ecoboost.

That’s what I’m going to do! The 3.5 has/had WAY too many issues. Thank you for the advice!

lol. Everybody has to love something....

Exactly the same as me

@@GearsAndTech I’ve now classified my 2010 Ford Flex to have a death wobble

It's been a popular topic. Most the comments and dislikes came from a few disgruntled Facebook groups that are dedicated to their love of all things flex. So I take it with a grain of salt.

Im happy you watched this far to see that. Its too bad not everyone makes it that far to see how funny I think I am

It's like the thing that makes you hate it so much is also what makes you not be able to get rid of it. A true love / hate thing. Glad you're enjoying the content. Make sure to subscribe and share our videos with your friends

No, I bought rims that were black already

What MPG did uou get highway?

@@Area_man115 I don’t know. Since a drive to Calgary and back to Vancouver island last year I haven’t had it on a real highway run. My comment relates to it having a 60 litre or 16 gallon tank.

What year?

at last, someone that gets where Im coming from!

This video was out long before I was monetized. It was not made to be click bait The problem is, most other reviewers are getting paid by Ford, or their sponsers to say nice things. It's really hard to get an objective review of anything these days. Also, the comments in this video come from a few Ford forums that flooded the video, thumbs downed it and put comments about how much they love their Ford. Forming your own opinion from the comments here would be like going to a trump rally to form your opinion on Biden This is just my experience with 1 Ford vehicle. You can watch it, and see if you agree or disagree I knew the flex was a junk vehicle when I bought it. But I didn't care, because I loved how they look

I actually just finally sold it today. I had to pretty much give the car away Covid, mixed with car sales are probably mostly to blame, but I just had it sitting in the driveway for the last month waiting for someone to buy it Sorry to betray my loyal Ford flex fans I do have a few more Ford flex videos in the pipeline to come out.

I love my 2016 Flex. No issues and they have a great engine. I know I have a recall on the tow bar coming up when Ford gets enough parts in for it but I let everyone know how great a family SUV it is. Mines the v6 non turbo with the limited package and all the room and features in it after looking past its style impress everyone I show including 1 friend who bought one this summer(maybe yours LOL). Idk if you got a lemon or I’m just lucky but since Mercury went out and I can’t get a Mountaineer anymore (owned 2 as I loved them so much) I went with this. Now that it’s gone my next SUV will probably be the Bronco 4 door as I love trails and looks like it will be good for hauling stuff and family. Of course that will depend on what others think. Sorry for your problems and the long comment but just had to show the Flex some love. Stay safe.

@@sirtravisdraco13 thanks for stopping by and for the comment. I know what you mean about the utility of the flex. I loved rhe space and the versatility. I even still love how it looks. I just hated the mechanical of it, specifically the front suspension. Glad you're still loving yours

You are sooo right i have a 2019 and i suspected that the first month after buying i was like wow they really cheaped out on the suspension aspect of the car which is a shame. It hits hard on bumps and that is somewhat embarrasing as it is a new car.

It's ok, I'm not a mechanic anyway, so I'm not allowed to fix your car I got the flex because I loved the way the looked when they came out. And finally was in a position where it could make sense to have it. Prior to that the family was too big. But you are right. I spent a lot of money trying to fix it. And it worked for a bit, then something else broke. And it was constantly breaking. I had to have an extra car to drive while I was waiting for parts for the flex

It was really cheap, and I test drove it before buying I knew it had some issues, which is common for any used car. What is common (at least for me) is to have the car just keep needing stuff every month. It always needed more parts and had something else that had to be fixed I have never had a vehicle fall apart so much, and so quickly as this one.

That sounds dreadful.

I believe you are correct

How many accidents has it been in?

I would agree on the gm. But I've had really good luck with nissan

@@GearsAndTechI've had good luck with gm but the older stuff.

No, that's not accurate I bought a 10 year old car, with HALF as many km as what I typically drive and am surprised at how much WORSE it is than those other cars. For comparison, the avalanche I bought to replace it I have been driving for 7 months. It has the same km as the Ford flex and I put 1 high pressure power steering line on it and that is all. I just now bought new front bearings for it and will be installing soon. But it has needed nothing else. The reality is, Ford vehicles wear out sooner. Which is why you aren't surprised its junk. I'm just used to driving higher quality vehicles I guess. So I have higher expectations.

@@GearsAndTech well put. Thanks for the response. I will consider changing my mind.

Good to hear

Thanks for coming by. I encourage you to watch the whole video You missed the part where I compared this to other vehicles I have owned and talk about my experiences with those. I've owned over 50 vehicles in my short life, all with similar miles and age and have never had this experience before.

@@GearsAndTech No I didn't miss those parts at all. I watched the video twice. But you writing off a model and the community that drives it in whole all because of your lemon, yeah that's ridiculous. I've owned a lemon. It means I got a lemon. Not that the car and everyone else that likes it is insane and somehow conspiring as a whole. Like be real man.

Thanks for coming back Maybe you missed the part where I talk about a coworker that loves Ford to death, got one brand new off the lot, it was a lemon. They took it back, got another which also was a lemon, so they took it back and got an f150 instead? Also, I made videos of all the repairs I did. They are some of my most popular videos on this channel. So that tells me I'm not the only one that has these issues, or nobody else would be looking for help on them. I'm not crapping on the community at all. I realize they make these cars and people buy them. I would hope they aren't all lemons However, this is for sure the worst car I have ever owned. And I think I did a pretty good job of explaining the reasons why I think that If all you've ever owned was a Subaru and a BMW, and then you bought a Ford flex you would probbaly think this is the best car in the world. I've owed a lot of different cars, across a lot of generations, and this is by far the worst. Sorry mate

I still love the flex. It's a complicated relationship

@@GearsAndTech yeah I can’t get behind that statement as well. It’s just when they need major work, it can be very expensive. I’m able to do my own maintenance and simple DIY. But not the big jobs like the water pump.

Sounds more like air in the line

@@GearsAndTech Nope the caliper was not rebuilt tight. I also found out you have to buy Motorcraft brake pads if you want your car to stop like new. Autozone elite pads are $80. In normal driving, they are fine. When I drive fast. They fade unlike the slightly higher Motorcraft pads.

@@GearsAndTech Some cheap parts you can get away with. At 69k miles, my cylinder head temp sensor went bad. The computer thought the engine was overheating. The engine ran on 3 cylinders and would only go 35 mph. It was on a Sunday so I bought the sensor at Autozone for $20. I'm at 103k miles now.

@@GearsAndTech I want to thank you. After watching your whole video. I now have a subject to make a video about.

thanks for stopping by. I thought this was going to be another comment about how wrong I am. Its nice to know others have the same experience as me.

I think you missed the part where I say I have owned many vehicles of similar vintage with the same or more km and have never had this many problems with any of them Im not sure how you explain that? Why is Ford the only one that seems have the problem.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment I would invite you to check out the videos I released showing my journey repairing the car. I could argue that I'm not full of it. But, it would just be my opinion vs yours. Which it's really hard to figure out who is actually right. I understand you love your flex. I loved mine too. But, it also was a constant source of frustration. I'll likely own another one, but will get a newer one Side note. My avalanche is going strong with the same km my flex had. And hasn't had any work done to it except oil changes Mayne the flex was just a lemon, maybe my avalanche is just awesome

@@GearsAndTech The problem stems from the fact that you trash what is known around the automotive world as a great Ford product. Find any machine in dire straits then trash it on RU-vid makes absolutely no sense. I've owned vehicles for well over fifty five years and in all that time only one fell out of favor and it was a Ford product ! No big deal, I sold it and got another one and drove it fifteen years and 496,000 kms ! What more could be said. Be safe !

The flex being a great Ford product is news to me. I must travel in different circles than you You mentioned the number of dislikes, that's because some Ford FB groups and forums shared this video around and all made a point to dislike the video. That's why it has a large number of dislikes This is common unfortunately in RU-vid which is being address by yt to help combat it . The result is exactly what you have observed. If course a mob of Ford fans will blindly dislike a video saying anything negative It doesn't validate your opinion any more than it makes mine moot Fact is, some cars are good and some aren't And my experience was tha the Ford flex is the worst car I have ever owned. And I have owned a lot of different cars (and trucks) across multiple makers. This is the worst Glad your experience was different. I wish mine was too.

@@GearsAndTech No Kidding, that's an understatement, to say the least !